Week Eight Finals ~ Bonnie Gordon College

March 23, 2015March 23, 2015Leave a comment

This week was our final. We had both a practical assignment and a written exam. I was assigned a theme and a client for my final cake. I was given swan lake and a description of the recipient in order to design my cake. We had to do everything on our own from design, baking, costing and of course decor. It was a lot of fun and affirmed everything that we have been learning over the past seven weeks! The written exam was pretty much review of most of our quizzes throughout the course.

I really liked how my cake turned out and would have done only a few small things differently. I designed the top to look like Princess Odette’s headpiece and the bottom to incorporate the black swan. The beading did not take as long as I thought and I had time to let my tiara dry for two nights which was ideal. Everyone in our class did a great job. I am really going to miss everyone!

Thankfully I am going back in April as the T.A. for the next Designer Cake Certificate Program! I can’t wait. It will be a great opportunity to re-affirm everything we learned and hopefully pick up new things! Another eight weeks of early mornings and I couldn’t be happier. I will keep you all posted on everything when I start back up April 27!

Here are the pictures from this week. Enjoy and thanks for following through this amazing course!

My classmates cakes.

Final group shot!

Final cake at BGC!

The line up!

Ready for their close up!

Side view

Back side

Tiara

In the fridge.

Destruction!

With our fab Instructor, Julie!

We did it!

Last time at Starbucks!

Week Seven ~ Bonnie Gordon College

March 14, 2015March 14, 2015Leave a comment

This week was wedding cake week! It was a busy week that felt rushed even though we just had one cake to focus on. The theme that I was given was Marie Antoinette based on the Sophia Coppola movies more modern style. My original design was downgraded a bit as the week went on due to time constraints. Who knew how much time it really takes to make every little detail.

I made 11 sugar roses, 20 leaves and 20 blossoms. I did not use them all on my cake. I also made gold dipped feathers but they did not seem to fit when doing the final assembly. I used the ruffle technique that we learned in class to make the swags and a mold to create the floral boarders and frame. To make the “J” initial I used the extruder to form the letter and let it dry a bit first before gluing to the cake. All the gold was hand painted which took some time but not as much as I thought.

I was really happy with the result. Everyone in our class did a great job! This coming week is a short week and finals. I can’t believe it! My assignment inspiration is Swan Lake! The pressure is on. 🙂

The weekly lineup.

Under the Sea

Valentine’s Day

Bohemian

Architecture

Greek

Hollywood Glamour

Marie Antionette

The flower spray

“J” for Jones

Ruffles

Sugar flowers

In love

With my cake!

Week Six ~ Bonnie Gordon College

March 7, 2015March 7, 20152 Comments

This week has been crazy! We finished our haute couture cakes on Monday. I love the way mine turned out. I used Tamara of the the Real Housewives of OC’s wedding dress as my inspiration. I just loved the colors and the pattern. I used many techniques that we learned in class. Julie (our instructor) gave me a quick lesson on the moth orchid and I love that way they turned out. The gems were made out of isomalt. So fun.

We baked banana and marble cake on Tuesday to prep for our next two cakes. We tackled the sculpted cakes next. I chose the tea pot as my item. I decided to a take a Japanese inspired approach to the design. I was happy with the result but was very rushed at the end. I made the spout out of rice crispy treats which is a huge pain. I can’t believe people use them all the time for larger parts of sculpted cake design. They are hard to get smooth and fully hold their shape. They are lighter to make interesting shapes but I think I will avoid that approach. We got a chance to use the airbrush which I used on my gold handle. It goes on so evenly. Very cool to start with sheet cake and end up with a real life figure!

Friday was buttercream piping. I enjoyed every part of it! I really like buttercream cakes. We did a series of piped designs and the flowers. The flower part was easy for me since I had some practice in the Wilton course I took at Michael’s. One easy thing I failed to realize is to pipe your flowers on parchment and place them in the fridge… THEN stick them on your cake AFTER they are hardened. DUH! Such an easy thing that I did not do and ruined my perfectly piped flowers every time I tried to put them on a cake. Sheesh. Life long learner.

Next week is wedding cake week. I got my assignment: Marie Antoinette. I am so excited and working out my design this weekend. We only have two weeks left and I really want it to slow down! This experience has been wonderful!

Lot’s of pictures this week. Enjoy!